Thrillers & Suspense
Thriller and Suspense Films promote intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension.
A genuine thriller is a film that relentlessly pursues a single-minded goal, to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging on the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax. Plots of thrillers often involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces - the menace is sometimes abstract or shadowy.
Below is a grand line-up of the best in contemporary Thrillers & Suspense made since 1965. Following a similar theme, with generally a darker look is the "Film Noir" feature, well worth checking out. The exploits of "James Bond 007" may also be accessed stage left.
Right: Frances McDormand makes an arrest in the Coen Bros "Fargo".
When A Stranger Calls (1979)
6.5/10
Director: Fred Walton
Starring: Carol Kane, Charles Durning, Colleen Dewhurst
A crazed killer who was incarcerated seven years earlier when he murdered two children and terrorised their babysitter, escapes from his asylum with t... Read more
The Warriors (1979)
7.7/10
Director: Walter Hill
Starring: Michael Beck, James Remar, Deborah Van Valkenburgh
A battle of gigantic proportions is looming in the neon underground of New York City. The armies of the night number 100,000; they outnumber the polic... Read more
Time After Time (1979)
7.2/10
Director: Nicholas Meyer
Starring: Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, Mary Steenburgen, Charles Cioffi
H G Wells (Malcolm McDowell) pursues Jack the Ripper (David Warner) into modern day San Francisco via a time machine. An imaginative film notable for... Read more
Hazell (1978)
7.3/10
Starring: Nicholas Ball, James Faulkner
A British television series about a fictional private detective named James Hazell and his adventures. Read more
Magic (1978)
6.8/10
Director: Richard Attenborough
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Ann-Margret , Burgess Meredith, Ed Lauter
An eerie, terrifying story scripted by William Goldman from his own novel boasts Anthony Hopkins as Corky, a ventriloquist whose dummy, Fats, begins t... Read more
Sweeney 2 (1978)
6.7/10
Director: Tom Clegg
Starring: Denholm Elliott, Dennis Waterman, Ken Hutchison, John Thaw, Lewis Fiander, Anna...
"We're the Sweeney, son, and we haven't had any dinner..." The second of two big screen spin-offs from the roughest, toughest and most politically inc... Read more
The Boys From Brazil ( Blu-ray ) (1978)
7/10
Director: Franklin J Schaffner
Starring: Gregory Peck, James Mason, Laurence Olivier, Lilli Palmer
Laurence Olivier stars in this high-tension political thriller as Ezra Lieberman, a Nazi-hunter who uncovers the existence of war criminal Dr. Josef M... Read more
The Brink's Job (1978)
6.5/10
Director: William Friedkin
Starring: Peter Falk, Peter Boyle, Allen Goorwitz, Warren Oates, Gena Rowlands, Paul Sorvi...
From director William Friedkin ('The French Connection') comes this brilliant portrayal of one of the most famous and daring armed robberies in United... Read more
The Great Train Robbery (1978)
7/10
Director: Michael Crichton
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Sean Connery, Lesley-Anne Down
Aka "The First Great Train Robbery". Based-on-fact tale of the world's first moving train heist, this stylish thriller, written and directed by Michae... Read more
Murder By Decree (1978)
7/10
Director: Bob Clark
Starring: Christopher Plummer, James Mason, Donald Sutherland, Genevieve Bujold, David Hem...
Christoper Plummer and James Mason take on the roles of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson in this entertaining mystery-thriller (which would later influen... Read more